Read MNers reviews of TotallyMoney & find out how to improve your credit score

[EmmaMumsnet]

We recruited Mumsnet users to test out free credit report provider TotallyMoney Testers signed up to TotallyMoney to find out their credit score and look at what has affected it over the years. They then browsed the TotallyMoney site to see credit cards, loans, and mortgages they could be accepted for based on their credit score, as well as tips on how to improve their credit score.

Here’s what TotallyMoney has to say: “TotallyMoney is a Free Credit Report provider, which aims to make consumer credit fairer and more transparent by giving customers the information they need to make the right choices.

Until recently, our customers didn't really know why their credit score changed, meaning they had little idea of what they could do to make it better. What's more, our customers didn't know whether they were eligible for a credit product: their only option was to apply and hope they would be accepted. This was a problem, because being rejected for credit can make it much harder to get accepted for credit in the future.

Now, thanks to our Free Credit Report, that’s a thing of the past. Your Free Credit Report lets you track your credit score and gives you reasons why your credit score has changed, so you know what you need to do to improve it. Your Free Credit Report also comes with Borrowing Power: one number to show the best offers for your credit profile — offers you're most likely to get accepted for, helping reduce your chances of being rejected.

But, why else should you sign up to TotallyMoney? TotallyMoney is free and always will be — and 97%* of customers would recommend us to improve their credit score. Our service is easy to use and understand, we’re the highest rated Free Credit Report provider on Trustpilot, and we're Moneynet’s Best Credit Report Provider 2018.”

If you’d like to find out your credit score and how to improve it click here to sign up to TotallyMoney.

All selected testers who leave their feedback on this thread will receive a £10 voucher of their choice (from a list) for taking part AND will be entered into a prize draw to win one of three £100 vouchers.

Testers please answer the following questions:

• How did you find the overall experience of using TotallyMoney?
• How did you find the sign-up process?
• Which aspects of the TotallyMoney site do you like the most? And which were most useful to you?
• What did you think of your Borrowing Power?
• How did you find TotallyMoney’s recommendations for products (e.g credit card/mortgages)?
• How has your knowledge of your financial situation changed?

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

Terms and conditions apply

*Based on a Feb–March 2018 survey of 958 respondents.

• How did you find the overall experience of using TotallyMoney?

I enjoyed it an found it incredibly interesting and very clear and obvious how to use.

• How did you find the sign-up process?

It was easy to sign up and although I did worry that I would not be able to remember the answers to the security questions, it wasnt that difficult to recall!

• Which aspects of the TotallyMoney site do you like the most? And which were most useful to you?

I really liked seeing my credit score and my current products that I have at the moment. It was also useful to see what available credit there was and to see past searches on my name.

• What did you think of your Borrowing Power?

The Borrowing Power seemed lower than I thought so that made me wonder why.

• How did you find TotallyMoney’s recommendations for products (e.g credit card/mortgages)?

It was interesting too see what was available for me as it saves a lot of time searching for products yourself.

• How has your knowledge of your financial situation changed?

I thought my credit score was better than i thought it would be and my Borrowing Power was lower than i thought it would be so im not really sure now!! Overall, it is a lot better than it has been in the past so im quite happy with it!

• How did you find the overall experience of using TotallyMoney?

It was an easy and simple website to use and understand and had useful information.

• How did you find the sign-up process?

Very easy, I thought it would take longer but it was done in mere minutes.

• Which aspects of the TotallyMoney site do you like the most? And which were most useful to you?

I like how tailored it is to your credit score and how everything is very clear to understand,

• What did you think of your Borrowing Power?

I was pleasantly surprised how much i had.

• How did you find TotallyMoney’s recommendations for products (e.g credit card/mortgages)?

Good-all tailored to my finances and credit score.

• How has your knowledge of your financial situation changed?

I do not like loans or credit cards, but it is good to know how easy it would be for me should I ever need them. It is also good to know where to look for advice should my credit score ever go down to poor.

How did you find the overall experience of using Totallymoney?

I found it easy and quick to sign up.

How did you find the sign up process?

Really easy, much more straightforward than I was expecting!

Which aspects of the Totallymoney site do you like best? And which were most useful to you?

Being able to see all in one place exactly what searches have been made on my credit history was really useful, and being able to check which credit cards I would be eligible for.

What did you think of your borrowing power?
I was pleasantly surprised at the result, considerably higher than I expected.

How did you find Totallymoney's recommendations for products?
Very useful. In fact I now have taken out a 33 month interest free credit card thanks to their recommendations.

Has your knowledge of your financial situation changed?
Yes, it's been a very informative exercise.

• How did you find the overall experience of using TotallyMoney?

That was fantastic! Accurate! Fast and very swift

• How did you find the sign-up process?

Well that was easier than I thought it would be literally took me 5 minutes and was very accurate!

• Which aspects of the TotallyMoney site do you like the most? And which were most useful to you?

Definetly seeing where I cann borrow from and checking that I had nothing overdue

• What did you think of your Borrowing Power?

Better than expected

• How did you find TotallyMoney’s recommendations for products (e.g credit card/mortgages)?

Very helpful

• How has your knowledge of your financial situation changed?#

Definetly made things a lot clearer for me

How did you find the overall experience of using TotallyMoney?
I found it surprisingly easy, it is very intuitive, clearly set out, fast and accurate.

• How did you find the sign-up process?

Very simple - it only took a couple of minutes. I was a bit nervous about the questions which you only had 2 chances of getting correct, I made lucky guesses and got them correct.

• Which aspects of the TotallyMoney site do you like the most? And which were most useful to you?

I found it all useful. I have never done a credit check before, I was a bit afraid of what I might find. I use balance transfers to move around money to make use of the 0% interest and I liked being able to see which ones I would most likely be accepted for.

• What did you think of your Borrowing Power?

It was better than I thought it would be.

• How did you find TotallyMoney’s recommendations for products (e.g credit card/mortgages)?

Really useful and time saving - in the past I have looked on Martin Lewis's website for the best offers than done independent searches. I will use this account next time I need to change and take the option to use one of their recommended cards.

• How has your knowledge of your financial situation changed?

As I have moved around money, as stated above, I thought all the credit cards stayed open and did worry this affected my credit score. It was good to see the old cards I have not used in years are now considered closed. Seeing everything together I definitely feel clearer about my financial situation than I did before. However I am not sure what my credit score means ie what is the scale for good/bad.

• I found the overall experience of using Totally Money to be a positive one. It was easy to navigate and gave me useful information on my financial situation

-The sign-up process was simple and straightforward

• I liked the best deals section which made suggestions of what I could do to make more of my money (balance transfer). It was also useful to see what I owed on my credit cards as I don't normally log in to them, preferring to bury my head in the sand. I also liked being able to search for mortgages and loans quickly and easily with providing minimal details, not having to detail all my spending etc
• I was pleasantly surprised to see how high my borrowing power was considering I have credit card debt, an overdraft, no savings and work 3 days a week!
• The recommendations for mortgages looked too good to be true - I would have to look into them further. The loans quoted all had clear explanations which was helpful
• I have come away feeling much more optimistic - I thought we would struggle to buy a larger property in a comparable area, but it appears this is now a possibility that we can explore

• How did you find the overall experience of using TotallyMoney?

I found it really easy to navigate once signed up. Clear links and easy to follow. I liked the way in wc=hich the credit score was displayed (circle with dots). I wish it had a section to tell you what you could do to improve your score further.

• How did you find the sign-up process?

This was trickier as some of the questions were so hard even though I am good about money. E.g. too many problems with phone contracts made the Q about this hard to answer.

• Which aspects of the TotallyMoney site do you like the most? And which were most useful to you?

I liked seeing the hard and soft searches. I also liked being able to review balances on outstanding accounts. One of mine was wrong though in terms of a credit card. Current outstanding balance is around £40 yet it said over £300. No reason to explain this error as previus balance was £0. I logged into the account directly to verify as I was sure it was indeed wrong.

• What did you think of your Borrowing Power?

I was pleased to see that this was good. I found this section of the website harder to find.

• How did you find TotallyMoney’s recommendations for products (e.g credit card/mortgages)?

Good but I would always look myself too.

• How has your knowledge of your financial situation changed?

I am not really sure it has other than to have a better understanding of the soft searches done on my account. That was a shock!

• How did you find the overall experience of using TotallyMoney?

Easy, clear, and intuitive. Love that it brings credit report and eligibility calculators into one place. However I expected to see personalised information on how to improve my score? Maybe this is something that comes with time? The generalized guides were helpful and easy to understand though.

• How did you find the sign-up process?

Very quick and easy but second guessed myself with the questions which I did find quite hard - knowing when I last opened a current account etc.

• Which aspects of the TotallyMoney site do you like the most? And which were most useful to you?

The fact that free credit report and free eligibility calculators which I have previously used separately elsewhere are brought together into one place where there is no need to keep inputting details. I also love that types of cards are split up and their benefits clearly explained.

• What did you think of your Borrowing Power?

I was pleasantly surprised, feel slightly dubious

• How did you find TotallyMoney’s recommendations for products (e.g credit card/mortgages)?

Very good, seems they have all the best relevant offers on the market to hand

• How has your knowledge of your financial situation changed?

I knew all of the "facts" that were on my report already but I now better understand how these come together to affect my credit score and what that means for me.

• How did you find the overall experience of using TotallyMoney?

Simple to use and navigate around the website.

• How did you find the sign-up process?

Sign up process nice and simple didn't ask too many questions or anything complicated.

• Which aspects of the TotallyMoney site do you like the most? And which were most useful to you?

I like seeing what my credit rating is and what credit cards I'm eligible for. Borrowing Power is a new thing so that was really good. It perhaps needed to explain what credit rating meant in terms of poor or good etc.

• What did you think of your Borrowing Power?

I thought the number was a little low but I guess I can understand it.

• How did you find TotallyMoney’s recommendations for products (e.g credit card/mortgages)?

As it recommended as pre approved the card I already had I felt that supported reliability of the information. I was interested by the balance transfer cards so may consider switching based on the recommendations.

• How has your knowledge of your financial situation changed?

Having signed up to credit checkers before the only thing this one added was the borrowing power. It is also a slightly different figure from other credit checkers but not by much.

• How did you find the overall experience of using TotallyMoney? I found the experience quite interesting,quite pleased with it.
• How did you find the sign-up process?Really easy to sign up,no problems at all.
• Which aspects of the TotallyMoney site do you like the most? And which were most useful to you?The credit cards that most likely to be accepted for is what I liked the most,as would also be the most useful to me.
• What did you think of your Borrowing Power?I was pretty happy with my borrowing power.
• How did you find TotallyMoney’s recommendations for products (e.g credit card/mortgages)?Really useful as shows all the offers & what likelihood of being accepted.
• How has your knowledge of your financial situation changed?I pretty much knew what my financial situation is,but am happy to know if I needed them I could get some pretty good deals.

How did you find the overall experience of using TotallyMoney?
Excellent, really easy to navigate the site and interesting to see this information in one place. However my personal current account wasn't showing (yet I needed to know when it was opened to get in)

- How did you find the sign-up process?
Simple. Much easier than expected and it did only take a few minutes! Can see how the questions could easily be answered incorrectly.

- Which aspects of the TotallyMoney site do you like the most? And which were most useful to you?
I liked seeing the rewards/cashback offered on cards and what other deals there are at the moment. Also the fact that searches had been made on me and who did them and when. Fascinating.

- What did you think of your Borrowing Power?
Seems fine. It is what I expected really, I am not looking to borrow in the immediate future though.

- How did you find TotallyMoney’s recommendations for products (e.g credit card/mortgages)?
Good, this could save lots of time researching as information is all there.

- How has your knowledge of your financial situation changed?
We all know that knowledge is power and this has shown that I have a good credit rating. I like how you get a clear picture of your finances. Thank You - a very informative site.

How did you find the overall experience of using TotallyMoney?
Very easy to use and understand and it was all written in plain English with no complicated financial jargon.

• How did you find the sign-up process?

The sign-up process was very simple and took just a couple of minutes.

• Which aspects of the TotallyMoney site do you like the most? And which were most useful to you?

My credit report was not available and I think this would have been the most useful to me.

• What did you think of your Borrowing Power?

This was interesting and I also received an email update too.

• How did you find TotallyMoney’s recommendations for products (e.g credit card/mortgages)?

It gave me information about products that I did not already know and was very useful to refer to this.

• How has your knowledge of your financial situation changed?

Yes, it has made me feel wiser and given me different options. However, if my credit report been available, I could have received my credit history and that would have been even more useful.

How did you find the overall experience of using TotallyMoney?

• How did you find the sign-up process?

This was very straightforward and took a couple of minutes on my phone.

• Which aspects of the TotallyMoney site do you like the most? And which were most useful to you?

It was useful seeing that there were no searches against me that I didn't recognise, plus it was useful seeing which credit cards might be good for me. I can also see how much debt I am in in one lump sum which i guess is handy.

• What did you think of your Borrowing Power?

I couldn't work out where this was for ages but eventually found it. I have no idea why it is was 7.7 out of 10 - i have no dab debt etc. An explanation would be useful. I'm not sure what 7.7 even means.

• How did you find TotallyMoney’s recommendations for products (e.g credit card/mortgages)?

Quite useful if I was looking for a new mortgage or a credit card. I will certainly keep this account and use it again in the future though.

• How has your knowledge of your financial situation changed?

It hasn't changed enormously but I feel a bit more in control of my credit rating as I now know how to check it. Very useful website - thank you.

I signed up to totally money to check my credit score and found the site really easy to use.I checked my credit score and reviewed my open and closed accounts and was surprised to see what information they held about me.I didn't find anything unexpected on my report. It was interesting to find out what credit cards and loans I would be accepted for and very helpful to have all this information in one place and I would recommend using this site to anyone interested in their credit score

• How did you find the overall experience of using TotallyMoney?

Overall experience was pretty straightforward.

• How did you find the sign-up process?

It was a very easy sign up process just need to answer a few simple questions.

• Which aspects of the TotallyMoney site do you like the most? And which were most useful to you?

I like that you can check your credit score and what deals are best based on this in one place however not sure on the accuracy. If it is a true reflection then it's a great site.

• What did you think of your Borrowing Power?

It needs to be more detailed to inform you exactly how this score has been calculated.

• How did you find TotallyMoney’s recommendations for products (e.g credit card/mortgages)?

The recommendations are good providing you do get accepted for these recommendations should you wish to apply.

• How has your knowledge of your financial situation changed?

Not very much but it is nice to view how you are seen to others.

Overall I was very surprised by the efficienty of this site and happy to have had the opportunity.

The sign-up process was quick, simple and straight-forward. No awkward questions about myself and no having to search for dates that I never remember.

The aspects of the TotallyMoney site that I liked the most was the historical information provided.

At the present time, the most useful to me was the overview of the overall information provided.

I thought my Borrowing Power was more than I expected but not more than it should if that makes sense. I am anxious about borrowing so thought I might be marked down.

I found TotallyMoney’s recommendations for products (e.g credit card/mortgages) very good as the main recommendations were from companies I am aware of plus a few I do not know and so the long list was interesting.

My knowledge of my financial situation has not changed, just been confirmed.

• How did you find the overall experience of using TotallyMoney?

It was easy to register with Totally Money Whig is good. I used my mobile phone to sign up and found that I could navigate around the site easy enough. The language used is simple and easy to understand and the layout is very straight forward.

As someone who rarely goes to look at her credit score - I found the experience to be as enjoyable as expected!

I would probably use totally money again, and am interested to see how my credit score changes over time.

I tried to raise a dispute as some of the information was inaccurate, but the app wouldn't let me do this. The amounts were minimal but showed some utility debt which was settled already. There must be a glitch in the app to not allow me to raise the dispute. There is also no recognition for any savings or investments...although I'm not sure whether this is normally taken into account when calculating credit scores.

• How did you find the sign-up process?

Simple and straight forward in terms of email address and details needed. I needed to complete the additional information questions twice because I simple couldn't remember what year I took out a credit card and wasn't sure whether my mobile contract was 'new' when I renewed it or old... not sure what would've happened if I had got the 2nd chance questions wrong.

So, security seemed ok.

• Which aspects of the TotallyMoney site do you like the most? And which were most useful to you?

The dashboard is easy to use and understand. Credit score is clear and it's easy to navigate around the site.

I was interested in this product test as I needed to know my credit score in prep to get another mortgage - the site served this purpose and made it easy.

• What did you think of your Borrowing Power?

The borrowing power score is clear, but I would've liked to know more about what it actually meant. I know that mine is 'excellent' but I've no idea at all what that means in borrowing terms.

it wouldve been useful to have some roundabout example figures for mortgage/ lending than having to go through guides etc first.

• How did you find TotallyMoney’s recommendations for products (e.g credit card/mortgages)?

Fine. As expected. The guides looked informative and I liked the information about cashback cards and interest free cards I could apply for.

• How has your knowledge of your financial situation changed?

It hasn't really. I liked the site, and it was good to know my credit and borrowing score (and relived that they are good) but it was as expected.

The credit and borrowing options were interesting for me.

I would've liked to know more about how to improve my credit score as I didn't feel the tips were really clear on the site.

How did you find the overall experience of using Totally Money? Really good and very simple to use and understand.

• How did you find the sign-up process? Easy
• Which aspects of the TotallyMoney site do you like the most? And which were most useful to you? I like that it gives you ideas to help improve your credit score this has become really useful to me as it something I've been wanting to do for a while now.
• What did you think of your Borrowing Power? It's good but took a while to understand
• How did you find TotallyMoney’s recommendations for products (e.g credit card/mortgages)? Great there wasn't many but enough
• How has your knowledge of your financial situation changed? I know how I need to improve my credit score

My overall experience of using TotallyMoney was very positive. It’s a useful service.

• The sign-up process was very easy. It took about 2 minutes and I didn’t have to add hard to find data, just name, email , how long at current address etc.
• My favourite aspect of the TotallyMoney site is bring able to view my credit score and who has recently searched my record.
• What did you think of your Borrowing Power? This area wasn’t of particular interest to me as I’m not looking to take out any credit.
• TotallyMoney’s recommendations for products were good, a variety of deals and very clear and well organised.
• I’d say my knowledge of my financial situation has changed somewhat as I also use Clear Score and my credit rating is worse on there than it is on TotallyMoney!

• How did you find the overall experience of using TotallyMoney?

Very simple and straightforward layout, easy to use. I can see myself getting a little obsessed with it in the preparations for getting "mortgage-ready"!

• How did you find the sign-up process?

It was incredibly simple and speedy to sign up to TotallyMoney, much faster than my experience trying (and failing!) to register for a similar service with MoneySavingExpert. Only some fairly basic information required, and then some multiple choice questions to confirm you are the correct person.

• Which aspects of the TotallyMoney site do you like the most? And which were most useful to you?

For those of you who are completely scatter-brained like me, you might be reassured to know that resetting a forgotten password is very easy (I can't be the only person who has to reset my password more often than I manage to remember it??)

• What did you think of your Borrowing Power?

Better than expected, which was reassuring. I've had a problem with British Gas referring my account to a debt collection agency so I was petrified that it would have destroyed my credit rating!

• How did you find TotallyMoney’s recommendations for products (e.g credit card/mortgages)?

I was a little disappointed that it didn't make any recommendations regarding mortgages, since that is the reason I signed up. However, I assume this is because I don't currently have a mortgage and they only suggest them to current mortgage holders! I liked the recommendation of cashback cards, that's not something I've seen before.

• How has your knowledge of your financial situation changed?

No, but it has reassured me that I'm not viewed by lenders as the liability I thought I would be!

The sign up process was quicker than I expected, it took me less then 2 mins to do it, there were 4 ID verifying questions, which were easy to answer
I was interesting to see how much I owe on mortgage as I don't see this information very often
My Borrowing Power was as I expected so no surprises there
I looked at the recommendations briefly but I am not thinking of remortgaging or a new credit card/loan at the moment. But these details will be handy in the future I am sure.
It was interesting to see which companies did searches on me, some of them I don't even know or recall. I am glad my score was as expected as I haven't checked for years.

How did you find the overall experience of using TotallyMoney? Really simple and straightforward yet full of information on deals I could get

• How did you find the sign-up process? Really quick - around 2 or 3 mins although my report couldn’t be found
• Which aspects of the TotallyMoney site do you like the most? And which were most useful to you? The offers for cards etc
• What did you think of your Borrowing Power? It’s good to see I can get the best deals for me and that if I hadn’t recently arranged my mortgage I could’ve found a good deal here
• How did you find TotallyMoney’s recommendations for products (e.g credit card/mortgages)? Excellent, lots of good deals and rates shown
• How has your knowledge of your financial situation changed? It hasn’t really as unfortunately other services have been able to give me a full report which this didn’t

How did you find the overall experience of using TotallyMoney? Easy to use, self explanatory really.

• How did you find the sign-up process? Easy to sign up, quick and stress free.

• Which aspects of the TotallyMoney site do you like the most? And which were most useful to you? Shows what credit you have and who with and when it started, so if I had any worries about anything I could use the raise a dispute link.

• What did you think of your Borrowing Power? Borrowing power is excellent, which is nice to know if ever needed.

• How did you find TotallyMoney’s recommendations for products (e.g credit card/mortgages)? It's ideal for someone who I looking for a credit card or loan but I am not.

• How has your knowledge of your financial situation changed? Yes, I believe I am in a more stable financial situation than I thought I was.

How did you find the overall experience of using TotallyMoney? The experience was very positive. It was easy to sign up and interesting to see all my credit searches.

• How did you find the sign-up process? Really easy, I had to enter a few details and after a minute my report was on the screen.
• Which aspects of the TotallyMoney site do you like the most? And which were most useful to you? I think the credit report and the fact that you can view all the hard and soft credit searches.
• What did you think of your Borrowing Power? It is an helpful tool as it allows to know which credit cards I could apply to, how much money I could borrow and compare mortgages. I will definitely use it for checking the best deals.
• How did you find TotallyMoney’s recommendations for products (e.g credit card/mortgages)? It was very good. I felt happy to know that I was approved already for a credit card.
• How has your knowledge of your financial situation changed? I know all the credit searches that are in my report now. I would have liked to be able to get advice on how to improve the credit score though.

• How did you find the overall experience of using TotallyMoney?

I found my experience with using TotallyMoney a positive one. Super easy to use and work around.

• How did you find the sign-up process?

The sign up process was straight forward and quick to do. Simply snswer a couple of questions and before you know it sll the informstion you could possibly need is at your fingertips.

• Which aspects of the TotallyMoney site do you like the most? And which were most useful to you?

I liked seeing what my credit score was and also my borrowing power.

• What did you think of your Borrowing Power?

Very intetesting. It was interesting to see how much it is out of ten which made it esy to understand.

• How did you find TotallyMoney’s recommendations for products (e.g credit card/mortgages)?

Very interesting. It gave me food for thought while being easy enough to understand.

• How has your knowledge of your financial situation changed?

I hsve s better understanding of my financial situation. It wasn't as bad as I thought considering my age! It's also interesting to see how companies view me.